ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Saturday India had not reciprocated Pakistan’s efforts to establish "peace and stability", as ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbours continue to remain strained over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Pakistan marks February 5 each year as ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ to show support for the people of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
India and Pakistan both govern a part of the disputed Kashmir region and have fought three wars over it in the last seven decades. Tensions between the two countries escalated in August 2019 when the Indian government stripped Kashmir’s autonomy, scrapped its separate constitution and removed inherited protections on land and jobs. Islamabad subsequently downgraded its diplomatic relations with New Delhi and suspended bilateral trade, and says it will restart diplomacy once India reverses its August 2019 actions in Kashmir.
“India has not reciprocated Pakistan’s efforts for peace and stability,” PM Khan said in a message on Kashmir Solidarity Day. “Through its machinations, India has destabilized the entire region. India’s illegal and unilateral steps were rejected by Pakistan and the Kashmiris.”
The PM accused India of unleashing “the worst form of state terrorism” against the Kashmiri people, saying India’s actions were aimed at converting the Muslim majority region into a minority: “[Indian actions] are in violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions and international law, including the 4th Geneva Convention.”
Khan said durable peace in the region was dependent on the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute, saying a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations could achieve that.
